American Exceptionalism: Obama's Achilles Heel?

Wall Street didn't like the content of Bernanke's message — investors dumped stocks and bonds in anticipation of rising interest rates — but analysts gave him a thumbs-up for clarity. The purchases pushed long-term rates to historic lows, fueled a record-breaking stock market rally, encouraged consumers and businesses to borrow and spend and provided a crutch to an economy hobbled by federal tax hikes and spending cuts. Going beyond the formal statement the Fed's Open Market Committee released after its two-day meeting, the chairman said at a news conference that it would "be appropriate to moderate the monthly pace of purchases later this year" and to end them in 2014 if the economy performed as well as the Fed expects it to. Investors dumped bonds, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note up to 2.35 percent, its highest level since March 2012. Since becoming chairman in 2006, Bernanke has labored to make the famously secretive central bank more open to the public. In 2011, he began holding regular news conferences to clarify Fed policy, something that would have been unthinkable under his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, who took pride in being as baffling as possible. If it waits too long, super-low rates could ignite inflation. Or they could swell speculative asset bubbles as investors pursue riskier investments with potentially richer returns than low-yielding bonds.

The House is preparing to vote on whether to cut federally-subsidized crop insurance that helps farmers when they lose crops or revenue. The amendment by Wisconsin Rep.

Sony Corp. needs more time to study a key proposal from a U. S. hedge fund to spin off a part of its entertainment unit as a way to propel its fledgling revival, the chief executive told shareholders Thursday. Sony Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai was speaking to a Tokyo hall packed with thousands of investors for an annual general shareholders' meeting, where the proposal from Third Point hedge fund, led by activist investor and billionaire Daniel Loeb, was high on people's minds.

Appalachian Power is teaming up with West Virginia libraries to teach customers about energy efficiency. Twenty-six libraries are loaning meters to customers that measure the amount of electricity consumed from household electric appliances and gadgets. Appalachian Power energy efficiency and consumer programs manager Jim Fawcett says the "Kill-A-Watt" meters can quickly identify the biggest opportunities for energy savings. Those savings can come from computers, cell phone chargers and other items that are plugged in but not in use.

A muddled message from the Federal Reserve has rattled investors for weeks. So Chairman Ben Bernanke tried to set the record straight Wednesday about the Fed's plans to shrink its bond-buying program later this year and end it entirely in 2014 if the economy continues to improve. Wall Street didn't like the content of Bernanke's message — investors dumped stocks and bonds in anticipation of rising interest rates — but analysts gave him a thumbs-up for clarity. "They'd been a bit all over the place," says Paul Ashworth, chief U.